roll the trucks

verb

To alert and deploy ARFF emergency vehicles to the scene of an aircraft accident, incident, or emergency landing on or near an airport.

Meanings

verbroll the trucks (third-person singular simple present rolls the trucks, present participle rolling the trucks, simple past and past participle rolled the trucks)

present singular third person rolls the trucks · participle present rolling the trucks · participle past rolled the trucks · past rolled the trucks

  1. intransitiveslangaeronauticsTo alert and deploy ARFF emergency vehicles to the scene of an aircraft accident, incident, or emergency landing on or near an airport.
    1 more example

    About 2211:04, the first officer contacted the ground controller to inform him that aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) was needed because of a cargo fire. The controller then confirmed that the first officer was reporting an aircraft fire and stated, about 2211:24, 'we're gonna roll the trucks right now.' Afterward, the pilots began the fire and evacuation checklist. The CVR recording ended about 2211:38.

    2009 June 30, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.1 History of the Flight”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Ground Fire Aboard Cargo Airplane, ABX Air Flight 1611, Boeing 767-200, N799AX, San Francisco, California, June 28, 2008, archived from the original on 22 Jun 2022, page 3
Cite this entry
APA

roll the trucks. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/roll%20the%20trucks

MLA

“roll the trucks.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/roll%20the%20trucks. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “roll the trucks,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/roll%20the%20trucks.

Source: roll the trucks on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.